“We are all part of the story, what we are doing today just as much as we have done during the decades. And these are the stories we need to share — they matter,” said Megan Scallan, Florida Keys History & Discovery Center’s curator and historian.
The museum opened in 2013 with only a few framed photos; then came Hurricane Irma, which inspired a lot of changes. And now, there are a lot of fun ideas for even more evolution.
Bonnie Barnes is the new executive director, who started with the museum in December 2022. She brings vast experience in non-profit and community planning.
“I’ve been volunteering since childhood, and I love that my experience can help and make a difference,” Barnes said.
Through a series of events coming together, Scallan joined the museum shortly after as the curator and historian. Scallan has a master’s degree in history and museum collection management, along with experience working with a multitude of collections and museums before coming to the Keys. The team is rounded out by Julie Maris, who has an essential role as the administration and membership manager.
As Scallan was sharing the story of her journey to the Keys while working on her doctorate through FIU Miami, Barnes cheekily chimes in, “I found her in a bar.”
Scallan’s partner, Casey Watkins, was the general manager at Florida Keys Brewing Co. Scallan explains, “A lot of people from Jacksonville visit the Keys, so whenever someone was in the bar, he would call me up and put us on the phone together, and sometimes we would meet in person. So, Casey called me to meet Bonnie at the bar. Bonnie and I chatted about back home and different things; we exchanged numbers, and a couple of weeks later, the position was available.”
“This is what I fought for for 16 years,” Scallan continued. “I can’t imagine doing anything else than museums and education — bringing people who would normally be turned off by coming through a museum. It’s bringing them through the museum and finding out what sparks joy in them and wanting to learn about, and homing in on that and seeing what we can explore in that 15 to 30 minutes. It’s making them lifelong learners and converting them to the gospel of museums and people have reservation no matter what community you are working with.”
Scallan said there are so many different perspectives, such as why would you come and spend your money here versus going to a movie theater?
“That’s what we have to look at, especially working with families,” she said. “How do we build entertainment? There is a wonderful challenge here.”
The current collection is History Harvest: Indian Key Memories and runs through July 30. The intention is that it will continue to live as they are harvesting all the information as a community.
The community has contributed to the whole exhibit. It’s a living scrapbook and will be a digital exhibit when it changes. They have also incorporated bowling and period piece apparel that people can try on and have fun taking photos with.
The museum is also making a conscious effort to engage the community by posting photos on Facebook. When the images go live and come to life, people can comment online about who some of these people are. Barnes and Scallan both agreed that getting the community engaged and getting them to come back is important.
When asked about what the day-to-day is like, Scallan responds, “There are many moving parts to running a museum, including adapting to what the group wants, which may mean shifting a tour, while cataloging and digitizing a collection you may run into challenges with supplies which holds up the process, working with living artists versus working alone. Making it all fit together is important.”
Besides the exhibits, they also started a monthly book club that meets the third Saturday of the month. “We read and discuss a mixture of genres—classics, fiction, scholarly, historical, and pop history,” Scallan said.
A new intern program also started in June. They will be hosting eight to 16 (times varying) U.S. and international interns. Scallan was resourceful in finding the interns using various methods from Handshake, Facebook groups, and her vast database of connections.
Barnes happily shares something that not all leaders do, “She has allowed them to work on what they love.”
The interns will be focused on artifacts donated by the community and collectors such as Jerry Wilkinson from the Upper Keys Historical Preservation Society and Walter Oliver. How long does it take to go through artifacts?
“A box of artifacts could take up to eight weeks for a team of two interns to get through,” Scallan said. “And this is just identifying and cleaning the articles, often piecing things together, then the whole cataloging process, including photographing, logging all the information and more.”
What else is popular at the museum? Every visitor goes to the movie theater. Jon and Julie Landau designed the incredible 34-seat private theater, and several films play throughout the day, including Henry Flagler’s building the railroad that includes live footage. There’s also “Deadly Deluge” from the 1935 Hurricane, which includes interviews with some survivors. Veterans were here living in tents throughout the Keys, creating infrastructure, and when the Category 5 storm hit the Keys, they had nowhere to hide. The third current movie is about the Islamorada state parks.
What’s up next? Barnes said they are creating the Jerry Wilkinson research library, aka “collection room.”
“It will be exciting to create more much-needed space and a forward-facing working lab experience where visitors can watch the curator process in real time. And it’s available for naming rights,” she said.
To finish 2022, “A Smugglers Night” event at the museum is scheduled for Nov. 12. This event is in conjunction with a fall exhibit on drug smuggling. The book club, in-person lectures, exhibit and more will feature stories and information on the past and present.
More information is at www.keysdiscovery.com and on Facebook at Florida Keys History And Discovery Foundation.
